• One of the most popular
and biggest universities in Finland.
• Multi-disciplinary research university
with 7 faculties and 7 independent institutions.

Budget Funding, 68 %

• The only Faculty of Sport and
Health Sciences in Finland.
•

15 000 degree students of which
8 % are international students,
and total of 40 000 students,
including adult education.

• 2 700 staff members of which 9 %
are international staff members.

CORE RESEARCH FIELDS
AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF JYVÄSKYLÄ

Research Funding in University of Jyväskylä
per Faculty 2014 (source: Science barometer 16.3.2015)
Mathematics and Science, 32 %
Sport and Health Sciences, 7 %
Education, 4 %
School of Business and Economics, 4 %

According to the vision for 2030, the University
of Jyväskylä will be an internationally renowned
multidisciplinary research university and one of the
world’s leading universities in the fields of learning
and teaching. The University has strong ties with top
national and international research, business and
innovation communities. In global rankings, research
activity at the University of Jyväskylä is among the
top three per cent of all universities.
The share of supplementary funding for the University
of Jyväskylä is around 30 %. The highly competitive
international research funding is very important to
the university. National and international funding
programs have significant roles when collaboration
among research communities is being developed
and implemented. With the collaboration of research
communities we are able to enhance our international
competitiveness. We welcome renowned scientists
to our research community and support their close
collaboration with international universities.

The University of Jyväskylä attracts partners with
a staff of highly talented and creative scientists, an
excellent infrastructure, and our commitment to
success. The University is sustainably competitive,
attractive and innovative. Now and in the future our
impact on society will be significant.
It is my pleasure to present these excellent multidisciplinary research showcases of the University
of Jyväskylä. At the same time I would like to thank
our collaboration partners and invite them, as well as
new partners to fruitful research collaboration now
and in the future.

Professor Matti Manninen
Rector

U N IVE R S ITY O F J Y VÄS KY LÄ

The University of Jyväskylä is one of
the most successful multidisciplinary
research universities in Finland.

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EXCELLENT SCIENCE AND
RESEARCH NOW AND
IN THE FUTURE

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UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

4

WHAT BELONGS TO
EUROPE’S CULTURAL
HERITAGE?
In her research, Tuuli Lähdesmäki examines the
EU’s recently launched cultural heritage projects.
While facing one crisis after another, the EU aims at
fostering and producing a common European identity
with the help of the projects. Lähdesmäki clarifies how
European cultural heritage is produced and
what kinds of policies are involved.
It is hard to imagine a more topical research subject.
Docent Tuuli Lähdesmäki examines how the European
Union produces cultural heritage as part of its identity and
integration policy. A recent example of interest in the EU’s
cultural heritage is the European Heritage Label. Similar
to the Unesco World Heritage Sites, the project selects
and names European cultural heritage sites.
- It is not a coincidence that the EU is now putting a strong
effort on creating cultural identity and is interested in the
stories of Europeanness. Through cultural heritage, the
purpose is to create a sense of togetherness and an idea
that we have a common past and, as a result, common
values that are worth fostering.
The goal to create a common cultural heritage is understandable when looking at the situation of the EU: the

5

- To define cultural heritage objectively is impossible. It
means producing stories and making history meaningful
in a certain way, and political objectives often lurk in the
background. In our research we aim at understanding
the role of the EU in cultural heritage processes. It is also
interesting to hear how local stakeholders and visitors
understand the Europeanness of cultural heritage.
Last year, the EU started to officially grant European cultural
heritage labels for 23 EU countries. Finland, Sweden, the
United Kingdom, Ireland and Croatia are currently not
participating in the project. There have also been some
critical views on the necessity of the whole project.
- One question is what kind of culture and whose culture
and past are utilised to produce a common European

cultural heritage. European crises and
regional division unavoidably affect the
discussion on cultural heritage.
There are currently 20 European cultural
heritage sites, but the participating
countries may make applications
for new ones. Some of the sites are
already familiar, such as the Acropolis
of Athens, but most are not familiar to
a larger audience. To receive the label,
a site must demonstrate how its history
is European and how it is important to
Europe. Some of the sites are closely
linked to the history of the EU, such
as the house of Robert Schumann in
France and the museum of Alcide de
Gasperi in Italy, with both known as
founding fathers of Europe.

Lähdesmäki has been interested in cultural identity and
its creation for a long time. She previously explored the
same theme in her postdoctoral research project in 2011–
2013, when she analysed the European Capital of Culture
programme. When taking on a multifaceted topic such as
European cultural heritage, it is helpful that Lähdesmäki
has doctoral degrees in both art history and sociology. For
Lähdesmäki, the best part of research is the possibility to
study exactly what you are interested in and find important
to investigate. Her creativity and ability to boldly follow
her own path have also been acknowledged. In November
2015, she was granted the Academy of Finland Award for
Scientific Courage.
- What is most rewarding is that your work is constantly
producing new insight. Finding new ways to understand
the object of your research encourages me in my work.

In the ERC project started in September
2015, Lähdesmäki and her research team
are interviewing the stakeholders of the
EU cultural heritage project and visitors to
the heritage sites. The purpose is to study
people’s views on what European cultural
heritage is. The study also examines how
local stakeholders in the field of cultural
heritage participate in the production of
Europeanness and connect their sites to
European cultural heritage.

One question
is what kind of
culture and
whose culture
and past are
utilised
to produce
a common
European
cultural heritage.

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flood of refugees, financial problems,
expansion plans, political challenges and
the rise of nationalism. For a long time
now, the political and financial integration
of Europe has run into difficulties. Even
though cultural integration is less visible
than the other issues, it gets more weight
during crises.

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UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

6

BRAIN RESEARCH HELPS
TRACE DIFFERENT
LEARNING PATHWAYS
For a long time, progress in children’s brain
research has stood still. Professor Paavo Leppänen
and his colleagues are developing new approaches
and analysis methods to improve brain research
in children. Their objective is also to find better
ways to help children with learning difficulties,
such as developmental dyslexia and ADHD.
Paavo Leppänen has a big goal. Using brain research,
he wants to understand why some children end up
having learning difficulties – and what types of support
could tackle the difficulties. Professor Leppänen leads
the international ChildBrain project and is a partner in
Predictable project. Researchers in these projects develop
new methods for brain research involving children, for
example, for analysing electromagnetic brain responses.
- The developing brains of children pose unique challenges
for brain research. Current research methods have mainly
been developed for adults. The development of child brain
research methods has received much less attention until
recently.
The research themes of the multidisciplinary projects
include, among others, early brain development, dyslexia,
language impairment, ADHD, epilepsy and congenital

7

For instance, dyslexia is a result of slightly
atypical functioning of the brain that can
be observed already in infancy at a group
level. The professor’s research group has
revealed that the electrical brain activity
signalling the ability to differentiate
how babies hear speech sounds was
connected to reading speed as late as the
age of 14. This is in most cases explained
by hereditary factors behind dyslexia –
typically a close relative has had similar problems.
Professor Leppänen rather speaks about reading difficulties than about reading disorders since the latter term
has had negative connotations: people with dyslexia were
once considered a bit stupid. Leppänen compares, from
the perspective of brain function, reading difficulties to
how some people have trouble learning to sing in tune or
understand mathematics.

portant. Reading difficulties are strongly connected to success in academic
achievement. According to Professor
Leppänen, one way to tackle reading
difficulties is already known: reading a
lot. Ability to convert letters and words
to corresponding speech sounds may not
become automatic, but diligent practice
improves the situation. Therefore, it is
good to encourage children to read as
much as possible, especially texts they
themselves find motivating.
Today, digital learning environments and
online reading bring special challenges
for children with learning difficulties.
It is not enough to understand a wellprepared textbook. You must be able to
search for and combine information from
different sources and evaluate it critically.

- It is important to find out how different reading problems
are manifested in the brain level. Then we can consider a
suitable chain of case-specific support measures.

- We do not say that unmusical people have a musical or
singing disorder.

Professor Leppänen finds that brain research is especially
fascinating now because the field is progressing rapidly.
From the perspective of a researcher, it is rewarding that
the study of learning difficulties may be, and already has
been, truly helpful for people struggling with learning
problems. On the other hand, he has noticed that the
longer one does research, the better one understands how
little we actually know.

A person may not suffer that much in life from being
unmusical. In the case of reading difficulties, however,
support actions are crucial because literacy is socially im-

- New questions arise all the time, and there is so much to
explore. But, as one author has said, the landscape looses
its prospects if there are no more questions.

It is important
to find out
how different
reading
problems are
manifested in
the brain level.

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hearing problems. The projects also train
international PhD students in Jyväskylä.
Professor Leppänen himself has studied
dyslexia during the most of his career.
His objective is to find out how the
development of linguistic functions and
various cognitive difficulties are linked to
brain function. The goal is, ultimately, to
be able to apply research data in various
support measures.

Excellence in Science

UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

8

CATCHING
CLIENTS’ ATTENTION
ONLINE
Professor Heikki Karjaluoto monitors how the digital
world changes the way companies do business.
“Welcome to our Online Store. How can I help you?”
When surfing the web, customer service messages
pop up on the screen with increasing frequency.
Professor Heikki Karjaluoto can tell us why. He has
studied the digitalisation of marketing and sales
for more than a decade. According to him, we
have moved to a phase in which companies more
and more often meet their customers through
digital channels, for example, in a chat. Face-toface communication is decreasing in both social
relationships and commerce.
- People change. That makes our research
interesting and surprising. It is difficult to get
hold of modern teenagers by calling them on the
phone. Once they enter working life, their methods of
communication will be very different from the methods
of today’s 40–50-year-olds.
According to Professor Karjaluoto, many would be
surprised to know how much the purchase of, for
example, a traditional agriculture machine such as a
tractor has changed. Nowadays digital sources play
a key role when searching for information, making

comparisons and finding user experiences. It is no longer
enough to hear a salesperson’s persuasive pitch or the
experiences of neighbours. Instead, information comes
from all around the world. In addition, product videos
and images affect decision-making.
Professor Karjaluoto and his team study the buying
behaviour of clients in various fields. He finds it surprising
how positively people seem to accept digitalisation. For
example, many consumers considered that the more
digital channels a bank offers, the better its customer
service is. The research results also encourage companies
in other fields to develop mobile and chat services.

After Jukka Lerkkanen became the director of the Open
University in autumn 2014, he immediately began
to develop the unit’s project and research activities.
Staff are offered an opportunity to present at research
conferences and encouraged to participate in research
projects. The work has already started to bear fruit: the
unit is participating in the international @TeSLA project
(Horizon 2020), and two development projects of the
European Social Fund are in progress.
- In my opinion, open university education needs to be
based on research just as regular university education
is. This is the only way to keep pace with international
development. We need project-related research so that
we can improve the quality of our teaching even further.
The @TeSLA project will start in January 2016 and focus
on stronger electronic identification of students. If open
university education is increasingly offered outside
Finland in the future, it is important to authenticate
the person who is completing the studies. Keyboard
handwriting is an interesting technology: similar to
writing with a pen, each person has a personal style to
use the keyboard. The project leader is Tarja Ladonlahti,
the pedagogical head of the Open University, who
ensures that students’ special support needs are

considered in the course of development. The Open
University participates in technology testing with IT
Services.
In the national AVOT project, the Open University
develops education models which can be used to design
open university education oriented to working life.
In addition, the project Individual Learning Path to
Higher Education offers upper secondary students an
opportunity to complete higher education.
Research is close to Lerkkanen’s heart. Though he
has worked in managerial duties for years, he has
continued to conduct research alongside his main job.
- I see the value of research and want to promote it
in my work.

Jukka Lerkkanen believes that project
and research activities will improve the already
high quality of open university education.

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RESEARCH WITH
AN OPEN MIND

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UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

10

A MATHEMATICIAN ON
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE
OF THE EARTH
In his ERC project, Professor Mikko Salo found a solution
to a mathematical problem that had gone unsolved for 25 years.
Professor Mikko Salo is thrilled. In his ERC project, he
recently found a solution to a mathematical problem
researchers in the field have puzzled for over 25 years.
The advancement is related to a mathematical model
Salo and his team developed to illustrate the structure
of the inner parts of the Earth.
- Jules Verne’s vision of a journey to the centre of the
Earth from the 19th century has yet to be realised. We
still do not know exactly what lies in its depths.
Professor Salo is specialised in this kind of challenge,
that is, inverse problems. In these problems, the aim
is to find out the contents of objects without breaking
them. The structure of the interior of the Earth is a
good example: researchers cannot dig deep into the
hot depths to acquire samples. Instead, they utilise
sound waves that move through the Earth after an
earthquake. Because there are slight differences in how
sound waves travel through different rock types, seismic
measurements can provide information on the rock
structure.
Professor Salo’s other research subject is the human.
Similar to the way sound waves travel through the

depths and reveal the structure of the Earth, the
movement of X-ray beams through the body reveals
the structure of humans. All we need is a computer
program and a mathematical model to create the image.
The imaging accuracy can be improved to a surprising
degree just with the help of mathematics. It is also
possible to decrease the amount of radiation received
by patients.
- The best moments are when you realise you have
invented something new that nobody has thought of yet.

Mikko Salo
• ERC Starting Grant 2012–2017
• Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Inverse Problems
Research funded by the Academy of Finland
2012–2017.
• Väisälä Award of the Finnish Academy of Science
and Letters 2014, Calderon Prize of the Inverse
Problems International Association 2013,
the Academy of Finland Award
for Scientific Courage 2011
• Professor of Mathematics at
the University of Jyväskylä since 2013
• MSc 2001, University of Oulu; PhD 2004,
University of Helsinki

11

Professor in Exercise Gerontology Sarianna Sipilä jumps
high in the air. A timer measures how long the flight
takes. It is a good result. Nothing to criticize in the
professor’s bounce. This is one of the tests Professor
Sipilä and her colleagues use when studying, as part
of an international EU project, the effects of ageing
on muscles. The questions are very current: How can
ageing people maintain their functioning with the
help of exercise and nutrition? What kinds of changes
menopause-related hormonal changes cause in the
body of women? More than 1,000 middle-aged women
were invited to the tests and the researchers will follow
a group of them through menopausal transition.
- Our target is to understand what changes the decrease
in the production of female hormones causes in
muscles. The test persons participate in variety of muscle
condition and walking tests and provide blood and
muscle tissue samples. In addition, their psychological
wellbeing and memory functions are surveyed.
Ageing is a particularly relevant research topic. The
number of older adults is growing rapidly and the
importance of retaining mobility has been recognised.
Good mobility is also connected to better memory
function.

- Older people are not just a cost item for society; they
are also a resource. It is important to understand the
mechanisms of ageing. In recent decades, research
methods have developed and the need for research
has increased greatly.
Professor Sipilä remembers how different
the situation still was at the beginning
of the 1990s when she was starting her
academic career. At the time, some of her
fellow students wondered what could
be interesting in studying older people.
- Thinking about it now, this field of
research was an excellent choice. The
subject has completely captured me.

Sarianna Sipilä
• Panini project 2016–2019 (Horizon 2020)
• Research Director of the Gerontology
Research Center since 2007 and Professor
of Exercise Gerontology since 2012
• MSc 1990, PhD 1996, University of Jyväskylä

U N IVE R S ITY O F J Y VÄS KY LÄ

Professor Sarianna Sipilä wants to understand
what happens in the body of an ageing person.

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FITNESS IS FOR
ALL AGES

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UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

12

IN THE INTERNET OF THINGS
EVEN SCREWDRIVERS
COMMUNICATE
Professor Pasi Tyrväinen is developing a smart city and
wants to make good IT companies even better.
Professor of Digital Media Pasi Tyrväinen is holding a
round sensor in his hand. He says that similar devices
can be installed in rubbish bins to measure their fullness.
A user can receive a message on a smartphone from
the rubbish bin: ‘I am full, please empty me.’ This is
an example of the much discussed Internet of Things,
Professor Tyrväinen’s research topic.
- The idea is to be able to communicate with devices
in an information network. For example, Bosch has
developed power drills that communicate information
on their usage. If it is seen that people use cordless
screwdrivers only within a slow speed range, it makes
sense for the manufacturer to drop expensive gears
and produce a cheaper, slowly rotating model.
According to Professor Tyrväinen, the gap between
the physical and digital environments narrows when
both people and objects communicate online. As a
researcher he wants to know which factors affect the
introduction of new technologies. He is participating in,
for example, the smart city project of the Kangas area in
Jyväskylä. The project examines the utilisation of various
intelligent applications in housing, such as electronic
keys which can easily be encoded upon demand. Let’s
say the sauna in your block of flats is reserved. With

electronic keys you can easily get access to the sauna
in the neighbouring building.
Previously Professor Tyrväinen worked for 13 years in
the business world for, among other companies, Nokia.
Therefore, it is no wonder that his research topics are
often based on collaboration with the private sector.
In the N4S project, researchers untangle how to make
good IT companies even better by increasing flexibility.
The Desi2 project develops an application that enables
the easy collection and utilisation of staff ideas for
workplace development.
- Many researchers focus on narrow research topics. I
have always been a horizontalist, interested in a large
range of issues.

It sounds strange to hear Professor of Physics Iain Moore
say that he is conducting research which will help in
the development of a clock. However, it soon becomes
clear that this clock is no ordinary timekeeping device:
the goal is to make the most precise atomic clock in
the world. It would have an insurmountable accuracy
of one tenth of a quintillion (10-19). In the future, it
could be used as the worldwide standard when setting
other clocks. Moore’s study is part of the international
nuClock research project, involving experts from the
fields of nuclear physics, quantum optics, metrology
and laser technology.
According to Professor Moore, this is a completely
novel method to measure time. The operating principle
of current atomic clocks is that electrons around, for
example, a caesium-133 nucleus are excited, that
is, they are raised to a higher energy state using
microwave radiation, after which they are released to
their basic state. The action of repetitious excitation and
deexcitation of the electron results in the atom behaving
as an oscillator. These oscillations, or ticks, are detected
and counted. The second is currently defined in terms
of this microwave transition in caesium.
The professor and his colleagues are developing a new
kind of atomic clock that is based on the excitation of
atomic nuclei, specifically the nuclei of thorium-229.

This type of atomic clock, or rather a nuclear clock,
would be more accurate and less sensitive to the
environment.
- Usually the excitation of nuclei requires so much
energy that it is not possible to produce a clock
based on them. This isotope of thorium is an
exception because it has a special state whose
excitation energy is exceptionally low, low
enough for it to be accessible with a laser.
The challenge for researchers to date has been
actually creating the excited state. In addition,
the thorium-229 isotope is not present in nature
and must be manufactured. Nevertheless, Moore
is ready to take the challenge.
- It is extremely exciting to be part of international
research groups carrying out fundamental research
that may lead to significant applications in the future.
I really wouldn’t even call this work. I’d call it a passion.

Iain Moore
• nuClock 2015–2019 (FET Open, Horizon 2020)
• Professor of physics since 2015, has worked
at the University of Jyväskylä since 2004
• BSc 1998, DrSc 2001,
University of Manchester

U N IVE R S ITY O F J Y VÄS KY LÄ

Professor Iain Moore studies exotic nuclei,
one of which has the potential to become
the world’s most accurate clock.

Excellence in Science

A PHYSICIST MEASURING
TIME WITH ATOMS

T

K

VERITAS

AS

AMICA

VE RSI

ÄENS
L
Y
I

NI

J Y VÄ S

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S

U

UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

14

UNIVERSITY OF
JYVÄSKYLÄ’S
RESEARCH FUNDING
IS ATTAINED FROM
MANY SOURCES

European Research Council (ERC)
European Research Council (ERC) supports the best of the best scientific efforts in Europe
across all fields of science, scholarship and engineering. ERC promotes wholly investigatordriven or bottom-up frontier research. Grant size varies from €1,5m to €2,5m for period
of five years.
Since 2007, more than 5000 projects have been selected for ERC funding. The ERC
counts 8 Nobel laureates and 3 Fields Medalists among grant holders. Over 20 000 articles
acknowledging ERC-funding have appeared in peer-review high impact journals in 20082013.
Each ERC grantee employs on average six team members, thus contributing to train a
new generation of excellent researchers. Under Horizon 2020, it is estimated that around
7,000 grantees will be funded and 42,000 team members supported, offering cuttingedge research training for nearly 11,000 doctoral students and almost 16,000 postdoctoral
researchers.

European Commission – Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly
€80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). Horizon 2020 aims for more
breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market,
and to secure Europe’s global competitiveness.
Horizon 2020, a mean to drive Economic growth and create jobs, has the political backing
of Europe. The programme emphasizes excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling
societal challenges. In addition, the framework includes nuclear research and training, the
Joint Research Centre activities and funding for the activities of the European Innovation
and Technology Institute.The goal of Horizon 2020 is to ensure Europe produces worldclass science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private
sectors to work together in delivering innovation.

The Academy of Finland funds high-quality scientific research and contributes to the
renewal, diversification and increasing internationalization of Finnish research in the full
spectrum of scientific disciplines. The Academy of Finland supports and facilitates researcher
training and research careers, internationalization and the application of research results.

Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovations is the most important publicly funded
expert organization for financing research, development and innovation in Finland. In
addition to funding technological breakthroughs, Tekes emphasizes the significance of
service-related, design, business, and social innovations.

In 2015 The Academy of Finland funding for research amounts to 349 million euros. Each
year, the funding contributes to 8,000 people’s work at universities and research institutes
in Finland.

Through its funding and programs Tekes finances yearly 600 public research projects, and
1500 business research and development projects that create in the long-term the greatest
benefits for the economy and society.

U N IVE R S ITY O F J Y VÄS KY LÄ

University of Jyväskylä’s supplementary
research funding from three major
funding organisation 2014–2015

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University of Jyväskylä’s supplementary
research funding from three major
funding organisations (2015)